Beverage measuring receptacle



Sept. 8, 1970 R. P. WILTON 3,527,269

BEVERAGE MEASURING RECEPTAGLE Filed Jan. 22, 1968 INVENTOR FlG-3 RALPH P. WILTON BY a fi ii f ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,527,269 BEVERAGE MEASURING RECEPTACLE Ralph P. Wilton, S. 4th St, Wrightsville, Pa. 17368 Filed Jan. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 699,602

Int. Cl. G01f 19/00 US. Cl. 141-364 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cup-like beverage measuring receptacle having fingers projecting radially outward from opposite sides of the rim thereof for support by the opposite sides of the rim of a drinking glass, the lower surfaces of said fingers being semi-circular in cross-section to permit rolling the same smoothly to discharge the contents of the receptacle into the glass, means also being on the upper surfaces of said fingers adjacent said receptacle to prevent the flow of liquid along said fingers, and additional means on at least one finger engaging the rim of a glass to prevent accidental axial movement of said finger relative to said glass.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In making mixed beverages of various kinds, including alcoholic beverages, it is common practice to measure certain of the ingredients in small receptacles known as jiggers or shot glasses. Because of the shape of the average jigger or shot glass presently in use, it is almost impossible to substantially fill one of the same and pour it into a drinking glass or the like without spilling at least some of the liquid outside of the drinking glass. Particularly mixed drinks, in which jiggers or shot glasses are employed, usually are mixed in view of the recipient in restaurants, beverage bars and the like, and at least certain patrons unfavorably regard spilling of beverages of the type referred to and object to it. Even when a jigger is held directly over a drinking glass while certain beverage constituents are poured into the jigger, followed by inverting the jigger, a certain amount of wasteful spilling occurs which is unsatisfactory to many patrons.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a cup-like beverage measuring receptacle of predetermined capacity and preferably having a depth no greater than the diameter of the receptacle, said receptacle having a pair of fingers extending radially outward from opposite sides of the rim of the receptacle, substantially within the plane of said rim and along a diametrical axis substantially within the plane of the rim, the lower surfaces of said fingers respectively being engageable with the opposite sides of the rim of the drinking glass into which the contents of the receptacle are to be poured, and said lower surfaces of the fingers also preferably are substantially semi-circular in cross-section, whereby when said lower surfaces of the fingers are rolled upon the rim of the drinking glass, smooth pouring of the contents of the receptacle into the drinking glass will occur, without jostling or jarring, and thereby insure the discharge of substantially the entire contents of the receptacle into the drinking glass.

Another object of the invention is to provide the outer end of one of said fingers with manually engageable means which, in addition to facilitating the rocking or rolling of the receptacle about the axes of said fingers when supported upon the rim of a drinking glass, also may be provided with indicia denoting the capacity of the receptacle.

A further object of the invention is to provide the lower surface of at least one of said fingers with a series of notches or recesses engageable with a portion of the rim of a drinking glass when the receptacle and fingers are resting thereon for support thereby, the co-engagement of one of said notches with the rim of said glass serving to prevent at least accidental axial movement of the finger with respect to the rim of the drinking glass and thereby preserve the initial substantially central position of the receptacle relative to the top of the drinking glass.

Still another object of the invention is to provide several embodiments of flow-preventing means on said fingers adjacent the rim of the receptacle, whereby if an excess is poured into the receptacle incident to filling the same, none of the excess will flow along the fingers but, instead, will be directed into the drinking glass and thus not be wasted or create a messy situation.

Details of the foregoing objects and of the invention, as well as other objects thereof, are set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawing comprising a part thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a cup-like beverage measuring receptacle incorporating the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the receptacle shown in FIG. 1 and illustrated in typical use upon the rim of a drinking glass which is fragmentarily illustrated.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the receptacle shown in the preceding figures, partly in transverse section, as seen on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the receptacle shown in FIG. 2 illustrated in full lines in normal supporting engagement with the rim of a drinking glass, part of the receptacle being in transverse section as seen on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and in phantom, the receptacle is shown in partially inverted arrangement to illustrate the preferred manner of emptying the same into the drinking glass.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of the measuring receptacle per se and illustrates another embodiment of flow-preventing means from the embodiment thereof illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the cup-like beverage measuring receptacle 10 has a depth from the open top thereof which is no greater than, and preferably is somewhat less than, the diameter of the interior of the receptacle. Thus, the receptacle is somewhat of a squatty nature which facilitates the pouring of liquid therefrom in accordance with the principles of the invention described hereinafter. The receptacle may be formed from any suitable material, preferably by a molding or casting process. Accordingly, it may be molded from suitable synthetic resin, cast from appropriate metal or alloy, or otherwise suitably formed in any desirable manner from any other appropriate type of material.

A pair of supporting fingers 12 and 14 preferably are molded or cast integrally with the upper edge or rim of the receptacle 10. Said fingers are each approximately as long as the diameter of the receptacle 10 and must be of suflicient length that they respectively may be disposed in supporting engagement with opposite portions of the rim of a drinking glass 16, as illustrated fragmentarily in FIG. 2. To facilitate this manner of support of the receptacle 10 by the rim of a drinking glass 16, it is pre ferred that the fingers 12 and 14 project respectively radially outward from opposite sides of the rim of the receptacle 10, along a substantially diametrical axis which is approximately within the plane of the rim of the receptacle 10. The diameter of receptacle 10 also is substantially less than that of the glass 16 with which it is to be used.

To prevent accidental displacement of the supporting fingers of the receptacle in a direction parallel to the axes thereof relative to the rim of the drinking glass 16, the lower surface of at least one of said fingers is provided with a series of similar notches or recesses 18, at least one of which normally will automatically receive a portion of the rim of the drinking glass 16 due to the weight of the receptacle 10 when the fingers 12 and 14 are resting upon the rim of said drinking glass. By such means, the receptacle 10 readily may be placed preferably substantially coaxially with the vertical axis of the drinking glass 16 and thereby permit easy filling of the receptacle 10 when supported in such position, as when a beverage is poured from a bottle into said receptacle. As referred to hereinabove, the receptacle 10 preferably is of a predetermined capacity, such as one ounce, two ounces, or otherwise, particularly when the receptacle is filled substantially to the rim. Such complete filling of the receptacle to the rim also is possible when using the present invention due to the fact that any accidental overflowing of beverages from receptacle 10 will flow into the glass 16 and thus not be wasted.

After the receptacle 10 has been filled to a desired extent and emptying of the same into the glass 16 is to take place, it will be seen particularly from FIGS. 3 and 4. that the transverse cross-sectional shape of the fingers 12 and 14 is similar and preferably is substantially semicircular. By such arrangement, when it is desired to invert the receptacle 10, as illustrated partially in phantom in FIG. 4, to discharge the same into the glass 16, this may be accomplished by manipulating the manually engageable member 20 on the outer end of finger 14, for example, to rotate or roll the receptacle and fingers about the axis of the fingers and along the rim of the drinking glass 16, thus producing a smooth, non-jarring or jostling discharge of all the contents of the receptacle 10 into the drinking glass 16, Without spilling any of it outside said glass.

In the event excess filling of the receptacle occurs, the invention contemplates the provision of several embodiments of flow-preventing means located preferably at the junction of the fingers 12 and 14 with the rim of the receptacle 10. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, such flow-preventing means comprise transversely extending notches or grooves 22 which preferably are of shallow depth. In an alternative embodiment of such flow-preventing means shown in FIG. 5, it will be seen that the same comprise a pair of transversely extending ridges or ribs 26 of limited height, which serve somewhat as dams to prevent flow along said fingers. Both embodiments function equally well to cause any excess liquid to be diverted into the glass 16 and not along the fingers.

The enlarged member 20 by which the receptacle is manipulated to discharge it into the glass 16 also aflords an excellent location to dispose a suitable indicia 24 which designates the capacity of the receptacle.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in other Ways falling within the scope of the invention as shown and described.

I claim:

1. A cup-like beverage measuring receptacle having a predetermined capacity, supporting fingers projecting radially outward from opposite sides of the rim of said receptacle and disposed in a diametrical axis substantially Within the plane of said rim and arranged respectively to engage opposite sides of the rim of a drinking glass for support thereby and discharge into said glass by rolling said supporting fingers about the axis thereof While resting upon said rim of said glass, means on the lower surface of at least one of said fingers engageable with portions of the rim of a glass when disposed thereon for support thereby to prevent accidental axial movement of said finger relative to said rim of said glass, and manually engageable means on the end of one of said fingers to facilitate rolling the same, the normally lower surfaces of said fingers being substantially semi-circular in crosssection to facilitate rolling said receptacle upon the rim of a drinking glass without jarring any contents of said receptacle and the diameter of said receptacle being less than that of a drinking glass intended to receive the same.

2. The receptacle according to claim 1 in which said means on said lower surface of said one finger comprises a series of notches operable to receive a portion of the rim of said glass as aforesaid.

3. The receptacle according to claim 1 further includ ing means on the upper surfaces of said fingers comprising notches extending transversely thereacross and respectively being positioned adjacent opposite sides of said rim of said receptacle and operable to prevent the flow of liquid therealong from said receptacle.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner E. J. EARLS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 73-426 2221 66 

